Storage of items, materials, or substances is common in many industrial and residential applications. Items that may be stored together are often of varying size and weight. Conventional storage systems, such as standard shelving, do not often accommodate the size and weight variance of each stored item in an efficient manner. Conventional systems accommodate a certain geometry and/or weight. For example, a conventional shelf has a certain amount of useable surface area. That surface area can generally hold a given amount of weight that is dictated by the strength and materials which make up the support structure of the shelf. If items to be stored are all of a single geometry, the shelf can be made to accommodate the items easily. However, if the items that are to be stored on the shelf are of varying weight and size, the shelf is not an efficient system for storing the items.
Many items that are stored are items that are sensitive to moisture, heat, or vulnerable to insects or rodents. Conventionally, these sensitive items are stored within a sealable or protective package. However, some of these packages are not sized to fit conventional storage systems. For example, a plastic bin used to prevent rodents and insects from damaging an item may have a geometric dimension that complicates the storage of the item while in the protective bin. Similarly, the bin may have a different geometry when compared to other items that may be stored on the same shelf. The shelf might be adjusted to accommodate the bin but the adjustment may reduce the total number of shelves that may be used or the overall surface area available for storage.
Additionally, while conventional shelves are adjustable in the sense that they can be installed at various heights or adjusted as a whole, conventional shelving does not allow individual adjustment for separate items that are to be stored on the shelf. Furthermore, some bins and protective packaging are designed to facilitate stacking multiple units with or without a shelving system. However, in the situation that several units are stacked, if the item sought is located in the unit on the bottom of a stack of multiple units or has one or more units stacked on top of it, the units stacked on top of the item must be removed from the unit containing the item in order to retrieve the item.